Off campus housing costs vs dorm costs

Oyama
Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:17:58 +0000

t-boneParent:

Oyama: I have heard my S talk about the area near Ridge as some of his college buddies live in that area. Do you feel pretty safe in that area going back and forth to campus and the El, and is it mostly fellow students living in that area?



Personally, I feel really safe, but it’s because of my upbringing. I grew up in what would be considered “the inner city” before moving out to the suburbs as a teenager, so what some consider ‘dangerous’ is what I consider relatively safe. Almost everyone I walk past to and from campus (even at 2am when I have to stay in my office late) are mostly students.

There’s been a recent ‘string’ of crimes around the NU area, but really take a good look at it–when people shoving people to the floor and stealing cell phones are the worst crimes being committed, then that’s pretty good. Even at my undergrad institution (UCSD), which is in one of the most expensive/nice places to live (La Jolla), there were some cases of sexual groping and even a string of rapes during the four years I was there. Since moving here, I’ve been pretty at ease, though still vigilant.

Regarding the El: from my apartment, it literally takes me 2-3 minutes to walk from my front step to the El, so yeah – in those 200 yards or so, it’s pretty safe!

And in my building? It seems to be mainly graduate students. I’ve bumped into only a few of my neighbors, but they’re all PhD students (like me), which is nice since noise hasn’t been an issue one bit so far. I don’t really notice who else lives nearby, but there are actually a lot more families residing in Evanston on Ridge Ave and the parts west of it.